We Say - 1
We Say
The prospect of the appearance in the Pacific in July by the President of France, Jacques Chirac, is one that appears to be more on than off. Edouard Fritch, French Polynesia’s Vice President, has made a round of several Pacific Islands states to invite their leaders to Papeete for a meeting with Mr Chirac about July 23/25.
The purpose of the meeting, according to Mr Fritch, is to enable Mr Chirac to discuss with Pacific Islands Forum leaders France’s future strategy in the Pacific. It is also a means of bringing about closer relationships between France and Forum countries.
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One reaction to this news came from the well-intentioned Pacific Concerns Resource Centre in Suva. This, predictably, uttered a gasp of horror and a promise to follow this up with a statement that, also predictably, will amount to a warning that Mr Chirac should be treated like radioactive fallout—something to be avoided at all cost.
France’s strategy for its future in the Pacific is obvious; to remain as a presence in it for as long as possible, meaning forever.
It hopes to do this by cultivating its three territorial possessions in the region as its bastion, regardless of whether they become fully independent, which New Caledonia will almost certainly do so early in the next decade, or 75 percent independent, which French Polynesia quite soon will be, although not enough, not for a few years yet, to become accepted by the Pacific Islands Forum of independent states as an observer, as it wishes to be.
But then how many of the Forum’s 14 islands members are fully independent politically? Question marks hover above the heads of at least five of them, a point that French Polynesia regards as a leverage in arguing that the next stage of its evolution towards greater autonomy will put it on the same footing, almost, as the relationships that two full Forum members, the Cook Islands and Niue, have with their former colonial ruler, New Zealand.
France’s ability to retain its political influence in the Pacific rests on its success on retaining the affections of the inhabitants of its Pacific territories, just as it has maintained great influence in most of its former African colonies.
It has been effective in turning its Pacific Islands protégés partially into Frenchmen. By keeping them drenched in French language and culture, and drenched also with thousands of millions of Pacific francs (the French franc surrendered to the Euro), it is well placed to maintain its position as a significant Pacific power for a very long time indeed. This is a window of opportunity to be exploited by Pacific Islanders, not closed.
Quite unlike the British, who don’t even nowadays much value fading Australian and New Zealand loyalties, and who were indecent in their haste to dump their former Pacific colonies as cheaply and as quickly as possible, France regards the retention of its Pacific portfolio as a brace for retaining its status as a global power. It is also a leg-in for exploiting the region’s economic opportunities—actual and potential.
Pacific Islanders benefit from the quality of French science and technology, some of it developed in the Pacific for practical application in it.
France directs fairly substantial aid to Pacific recipients, some of it is transmitted indirectly through French Polynesia’s President Gaston Flosse in pursuit of his campaign to establish himself as an important Pacific Islands statesman, albeit one still reined in by Paris.
If whatever ways France as a colonial power can be held to have sinned against Pacific Islanders, then so can the British, Americans and Japanese.
Vehement critics depict the years of nuclear tests in French Polynesia as France’s unforgiveable sin in the region, one emulated by the Americans and British. The long-term consequences of the French tests remain uncertain.
But that is no excuse for any Pacific Islands leader to give Mr Chirac a cold shoulder by being absent from Papeete. Unlike the George Bush (not George W Bush; his daddy) charade in Honolulu a decade ago, the Pacific Islands could gain much by being nice to France’s leader in July. France’s determination to stay part of the Pacific is a guarantee of that.
